5 Things You Missed: England 26-25 France 2025 Six Nations

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England have their first win of the 2025 Six Nations, as Steve Borthwick’s men recorded a dramatic one-point victory over France. A last-ditch match winning try from replacement back Elliot Daly lifted the roof off the Allianz Stadium, with England chalking up the long awaited ‘W’ against tier one opposition. Player of the Match Fin Smith took a starring role, in what was his first start at fly half on the Test match stage.

ENGLAND 26-25 FRANCE: THE ON-FIELD ACTION

Despite the best efforts of France fullback Thomas Ramos to split the deadlock with a long-range penalty, it took until the 29th minute for the first score of this Six Nations clash. First blood went to Les Bleus in the 2025 installment of Le Crunch, with highly rated Bordeaux-Begles wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey fastest over the whitewash. The flyer raced on to Damian Penaud’s grubber kick, to ground the ball with Tommy Freeman in pursuit. Ramos nailed the conversion, for a seven point lead at the half hour mark.

Find your local Greene King and settle in for the 2025 Six Nations!

The lead was short-lived, as England rallied back in a carbon copy of the nail-biting clash from one year ago. After a series of short drives at the line, Tom Curry offloaded the ball in contact, with Fin Smith expertly keeping the ball alive with a scramble from the deck. The ball then found Ollie Lawrence with a full head of steam, and the Bath man put a big fend on Thomas Ramos before crossing the line. It was a straightforward conversion from Marcus Smith, as England leveled the score-line just before the half-time break.

France edged back ahead with back-to-back penalties from Thomas Ramos, yet England would retaliate in style. Freeman starred as he regathered England’s kick-off, in the lead up to his following try. Fin Smith sent an inch perfect cross-field kick out wide to Freeman, as the wing rose high above Bielle-Biarrey to win the areal battle, and powered his way over for the try. Marcus Smith’s missed conversion kept France ahead by one point.

Dupont led the subsequent French surge, as Les Bleus responded with an immediate try. The France skipper shipped a miss pass to Bielle-Biarrey, who sent his fellow wing into space. Penaud beat Sleightholme around the cornet to extend the French advantage, yet Ramos could not convert from out wide. Marcus Smith added extra tension with another missed kick, before Fin Baxter’s close-range try sent the Allianz back into a frenzy and Fin Smith’s conversion took England into the lead.

England fans thought they were set for another cruel dose of deja vu, after Bielle-Biarrey wheeled away to score in the corner with five minutes left on the clock. However, a final push from England brought about the long awaited win, as Elliot Daly raced onto a thunderous crash ball break, as the Saracen crossed the whitewash with the backing of a nation behind him.

5 THINGS YOU MISSED: ENGLAND 26 – 25 FRANCE

5. ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ is louder than ever as Twickenham rocks from the long awaited win

There was a real sense of catharsis from the England fans, as after enduring an agonising Autumn Series of gut-punching defeats (not including the Japan win), the Allianz Stadium witnessed a long awaited win. It looked like England were heading for another case of ‘so close, yet so far’, as Louis Bielle-Biarrey sent the travelling French faithful into a frenzy with a try five minutes from time.

However, Elliot Daly’s dramatic last ditch winner was a breath of fresh air, that lifted the England fans into a euphoric state, for some unforgettable Six Nations in the drizzling London night. The atmosphere spilled out onto the concourse, along with countless pints of Guinness, as ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ reached a deafening feverpitch around the corridors and spiraled staircases. England got there, and the fans were behind them every step of the way, with a party breaking out across TW2 tonight.

2. ‘Le Crunch’ ignites with a cheap shot from England wing Ollie Sleightholme

The latest installment of Le Crunch certainly lived up to the billing, as tempers began to flare within the first 15 minutes. The altercation was between England wing Ollie Sleightholme, and his opposite man Damian Penaud, after the French wing knocked the ball into touch. Sleightholme threw in an unnecessary shoulder, and was lucky to escape punishment from the match officials.

The two grabbed at their opponents collars, and whilst no punches were thrown, there was some serious venom in the back and forth. The wings spilled off the pitch and into the advertising barrier, with the Allianz crowd erupting at the altercation.

3. “He’s human after all” – Antoine Dupont shows his human side with uncharacteristic first half errors

France captain Antoine Dupont started the match against England looking like a mortal version of his unstoppable self. The Toulouse halfback had a golden opportunity to put his side into the lead, as he was found out wide by Damian Penaud, with open field ahead of him. However, the usually on-point Dupont fumbled the final pass, and sent the ball spilling into touch, with England let off by the man regarded as the best player in the world.

Lightning would strike twice thanks to the greasy surfaces, as Bordeaux-Begles wing Penaud would spill the ball to the deck, aftter making a clean break towards the Twickenham touchline, with the spectators left amazed that the score-line remained 0-0 after 22 minutes.

4. Marcus Smith let off by an almighty error from France hooker Peato Mauvaka

Marcus Smith was let off my the skin of his teeth on the second half, with the Harlequin thankful for the English drizzle to deny a try for France. Smith cantered away down the wing for a break, yet had the ball stripped off him in contact by Bielle-Biarrey. The Bordeaux speedster then rocketed away towards England’s try-line, yet was halted by an immense covering effort from Tommy Freeman.

Biellie-Biarrey then shipped the ball over the top of the Northampton Saints man, into the path of France hooker Paeato Mauvaka. However, the front row was unable to gather the greasy ball that had been skidding along the Twickenham surface, and knocked the ball forward in another sure-fire try scoring position for Fabien Galthie’s side. Smith was the happiest man in the stadium for a short while, in what was a major let-off for Steve Borthwick’s side.

5. REF MIC: Ellis Genge unhappy when scrummaging with 145kg Uini Atonio

England prop Ellis Genge had the unenviable first half task of packing down the scrum against the monstrous Uini Atonio. An interesting conversation was overheard on the Allianz Stadium ‘ref links’, which allow the fans and reporters to listen in to everything that match official Nika Amashukeli had to say.

The Bristol Bears man was complaining that the 145kg La Rochelle prop was going too high into the set-piece, with the referee happy to lend an ear as the sides headed down the tunnel. Genge’s Bristolian accent was a stark contrast to the Georgian match officials frank manner on the whistle, with the back and forth making for some interesting eaves-dropping. The set-piece disgruntlement continued for England whilst Atonio remained on the pitch, as Fin Baxter collapsed under his almighty frame for his first scrum from the bench.

Another high-profile back and forth with the referee, was overhead as England captain Maro Itoje questioned the pass before Bielle-Biarrey’s try. England were eager to get the score cancelled out with a review, yet the referee saw nothing wrong with the proceeding pass and told Itoje how despite his protests, the pass was “clearly flat. England managed to wrestle their way back for the eventual match winner, with the referee mic picking up some unrepeatable ecstatic expletives as England rejoiced in jubilant celebration after Daly’s decisive dot-down.

BONUS THINGS YOU MISSED – DID YOU SPOT ANY OF THESE DURING THE MATCH?

Sometimes five points is not enough, with plenty of blink and you’ll miss it moments coming your way from the Allianz Stadium this evening. Here are a handful of bonus ‘things you missed’ that only the most eagle-eyed fans would have seen.

Big Screen Blunder: Wrong spelling on the Allianz jumbo-trons for the Player of the Match

After leading England to victory on only his first Test match start, Fin Smith was ready to see his name in lights after being named as Player of the Match. The Allianz Stadium PA system announced the Northampton Saints man to take home the personal accolade from the grueling match, yet the accompanying big screen graphic had added an extra ‘n’ in an awkward error, as ‘FINN SMITH’ was projected around the stadium.

France star looses his boot: Damian Penaud stripped of his footwear after brilliant breakaway

The sharp eyed fans would have caught a glimpse of a bright red French sock, after Damien Penaud had his boot stripped off him in a ruck. Whilst it was unclear as to which England player had sent Penaud’s boot towards the Twickenham side-lines, there was no hiding the annoyance in Penaud’s face as the wing tried his best to keep his sock from getting damp with a hop along the turf.

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